Researchers discovered a protein that can convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into a potential fuel, methane. Residing in certain bacteria, the protein’s work was discovered via a rather unusual twist…

The internal parts of a rechargeable battery can experience high levels of stress that lead the battery to fail. Researchers devised a new way to study the stress and found out it opens up new pathways…

Mimicking photosynthesis on an industrial scale could take carbon dioxide and use it with sunlight to make fuels. But we need a molecule that can manage the electrons. Nature's molecule just won't do. Enter a newly built, hard-working option...

Editor’s Note:

How we produce and store energy has a major impact on how we live. Solving energy issues, along with its concurrent water use, could help mitigate food scarcity, access to education, and poverty. Researchers in the nation’s Energy Frontier Research Centers, funded by the Department of Energy Office of Science’s Basic Energy Sciences, are answering fundamental questions that will affect how we heat our homes and power our industry. In this issue, you’ll read about research aimed at finding better ways to store energy in a new generation of batteries. You’ll see how researchers are answering scientific questions about harnessing carbon dioxide and turning it into fuels, using it for fracking, or storing it underground. You’ll also learn how researchers are using supercomputers to find the answers to these questions and the hunt for superconducting materials that can transmit energy without loss. In each article, you’ll also catch a glimpse of the seven members of our editorial board, who put their creativity, consideration, and precious spare time into crafting this issue. Thank you for being a part of it.

Kristin Manke, Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Board

James Furness, Center for Complex Materials from First Principles (CCM)